New Seeds of Contemplation

313 Pages·2012·13.34 MB·English

THOMAS MERTON

New Seeds of
Contemplation
I
' 1
"
I
i
RELIGION --TWENty -SEVENTH PRINTIN G
THOMAS MERTON

New Seeds of Contemplation
This edition is a much-enlarged and revised version of Seeds
of Contemplation, one of the late Father Thomas Merton's most
widely read and best-loved works. In its original form, the book
was reprinted ten times in this country alone, and has been trans­
lated into more than a dozen languages, including Chinese and
Japanese. Christians and non-Christians alike have joined in
praising it as a notable successor in the meditative tradition of
St. John of the Cro ss, The Cloud of Unknowing, and the medi­
eval mystics, while others have compared Merton's reflections
with those of Thoreau.
New Seeds of Contemplation seeks to awaken the dormant in­
ner depths of the spirit so long neglected by W estern man, to
nurture a deeply contemplative and mystical dimension in our
spiritual lives. For Father Merton, "Every moment and every
event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul.
For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each
moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to
rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men. Most of these
unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, because men arc not pre­
pared to receive them: for such seeds as these cannot spring up
anywhere except in the good soil of freedom, spontaneity and
love." ,
''. . , destined to go down as one of the great spiritual classics of our century,"
-Francine du Plessix Gray, New Republic
A NEW DIRECTIONS PAPERBOOK NDP337
ISBN D-8112-DD99-X
www.nd publishing.com
51295>
$12.95 USA
$18.99 CAN
9 780811 200998
NEW SEEDS OF CONTEMPLATION
By Thomas Merton
THE ASIAN JOURNAL
BREAD IN THE WILDERNESS
THE COLLECTED POEMS
EIGHTEEN POEMS
GANDHI ON NON-VIOLENCE
THE GEOGRAPHY OF LOGRAIRE
THE LITERARY ESSAYS
MY ARGUMENT WITH THE GESTAPO
NEW SEEDS OF CONTEMPLATION
RAIDS ON THE UNSPEAKABLE
SEEDS OF CONTEMPLATION
SELECTED POEMS
THOMAS MERTON IN ALASKA
THOUGHTS ON THE EAST
THE WAY OF CHUANG TZU
THE WISDOM OF THE DESERT
ZEN AND THE BIRDSOF APPETITE
About Thomas Merton
WORDS AND SILENCE:
ON THE POETRY OF THOMAS MERTON
by Sister Therese Lentfoehr
Published by New Directions
New Seeds of

Contemplation

Thomas Merton
A NEW DIRECTIONS BOOK
Copyright © I 96 I by the Abbey of Gethsemani, Inc.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 61-17869
(ISBN: 0-8112-0099-x)
All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in a news­
paper, magazine, radio, or television review, no part of this book
may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any infor­
mation storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the Publisher.
First published clothbound in 1962
First published as New Directions Paperbook 337 in 1972
Published simultaneously in Canada
by Penguin Books Canada Limited
Manufactured in the United States of America
New Directions books are printed on acid-free paper
New Directions Books are published for James Laughlin
by New Directions Publishing Corporation,
80 Eighth Avenue New York 1001 I
Nihil obstat
James F. Rigney, S.T.D.
Censor Librorum
Imprimatur
Francis Cardinal Spellman
Archbishop of New York
EX PARTE ORDINIS
Nihil obstat
Fr. M. Paul Bourne, O.C.S.O.

Fr. M. Thomas Aquinas Porter, O.C.S.O.

Imprimi Potest
Fr. M. Gabriel Sortais
Abbot General
April 10, 1961
TWENTY-SEVENTH PRINTING
TlX QUI SEDES 10J TENEBRIS
SPE TllA GAUDE:
OB··.f".\. STELLA I\fATtrrINA
Contents

PREFACE IX
AUTHOR'S NOTE XIII
I WHAT Is CONTEMPLATION?
2 6
WHAT CONTEMPLATION Is NOT
3 SEEDS OF CONTEMPLATION 14
4 EVERYTHING THAT Is, Is HOLY 21
5
THINGS IN THEIR IDENTITY 29
6 PRAY FOR YOUR OWN DISCOVERY
37
7 UNION AND DIVISION 47
8 SOLITUDE Is NOT SEPARATION 52
9 WE ARE ONE MAN 64
10
A BODY OF BROKEN BONES 7°
80
I I LEARN To BE ALONE
12 THE PURE HEART 84
13 THE MORAL THEOLOGY OF THE DEVIL 9°
14 INTEGRITY 98
15 SENTENCES 1°4
16 THE ROOT OF WAR Is FEAR 112
17 HELL AS HATRED 123
18 FAITH 126
19 FROM FAITH TO WISDOM 131
20 TRADITION AND REVOLUTION 142
21 THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST 15°
22 LIFE IN CHRIST 158
23 THE WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN 167
24 I-IE WHO Is NOT WITH ME IsAGAINST ME 176
25 HUMILITY AGAINST DESPAIR 180
26 FREEDOM UNDER OBEDIENCE 191
27 WHAT Is LIBERTY? 199
28 DETACHMENT 2°3
29 MENTAL PRAYER 21 4
3° DISTRACTIONS 221
31 THE GIFT OF UNDERSTANDING 225
32 THE NIGHT OF THE SENSES 233
33 JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS 239
34 THE WRONG FLAME 245
35 RENUNCIAnON 25°
36 INWARD DESTITUTION 262
37 SHARING THE FRUITS OF CONTEMPLATION 268
38 PURE LOVE 275
39 THE GENERAL DANCE 29°
Preface

THIS is not merely a new edition of an old book. It is
in many ways a completely new book. The full substance
of the former work has been retained, only a sentence
here and there has been discarded. Minor corrections
have been made in the original text, and there have
been very numerous additions. Almost every chapter has
been considerably expanded and several completely new
chapters have been added. The purpose of this revision
was not simply to make a larger book out of a small one,
but to say many new things that could profitably be
added to the old. And there was very good reason for
saying these new things within the context of what was
said before, in a different way.
More than twelve years have passed between the first
and second redactions of this text. When the book was
first written, the author had no experience in confronting
the needs and problems of other men. The book was
written in a kind of isolation, in which the author was
alone with his own experience of the contemplative life.
And such a book can be written best, perhaps only, in
solitude. The second writing has been no less solitary
than the first: but the author's solitude has been modified
.
lX